India to overtake China as most populous country

India's population is expected to reach 1.4286 billion - 2.9 million more than its neighbour on 1.4257 billion. The Asian nations have accounted for more than a third of the global population for over 70 years. China's birth rate has plunged recently with its population shrinking last year for the first time since 1961. India's population forecast provided in the United Nations Population Fund State of World Population report is an estimate since there has been no census in the country since 2011. The UN says their estimate does not include the population of China's two Special Administrative Regions - Hong Kong and Macau - or the island of Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a breakaway province to be unified with the mainland one day. This means in China, the population will start declining next year, despite the country abandoning its one-child policy in 2016 and introducing incentives for couples to have two or more children. Demographers say India's population overtaking China's shouldn't be seen as a matter of concern and caution against giving into anxieties over the rising numbers.